Well first you are talking about ponds in this thread and you show me landscaping, by the way you did a great Job for being only 18 I wish half my employees would work like you. but you ask about ponds and I think Insulted other pond builders with your opening statement. So Show me a pic of a pond you installed. Oh ya what part of town is that house, and what part of town do you work?

A lot of the ponds on here are great looking ponds. I've seen a lot of high quality ponds on here young man. Since I know you're gonna ask. My pics are under the post titled "Pics of my backyard pond".

I just think he's showing his age. He obviously doesn't know anything about ponds, and probably never will. I really enjoyed looking at your pond, and all of the other ponds on here. I think it's really neat to look at all of these ponds, and try to figure out how they were made. I love all of the different designs. I can't wait to see more. He doesn't think your pond looks like a quality install? What in the world is he looking for then?

Weatherman I am located in Ft mitchell KY. I think you guys should take this criticism a little better. I am looking at ur pics and these ponds look UNNATURAL. I want to learn how to create something that is high quality and i could sell to my clients. They have seen work like those in the pics on this website and not been thrilled. It doesnt matter what age u are to see what these ponds and especially waterfalls look like

I think you're a little confused young man. You're confusing formal, and informal, with the presence of quality work, and work that has a lack of quality. The waterfalls on here don't look exactly like waterfalls you'd find nature, that's true. Almost all of them have a certain degree of formality to them. Just because they have a certain degree of formality, doesn't mean they are not quality installs. Take Weatherman's pond. Even though he used natural looking stone, instead of finished pavers, his pond still has a certain degree of formality to it, due to the way the rocks have been placed. Does that mean he didn't do a quality job? Absolutely not. Does that mean that it doesn't look good? Of course not. It really comes down to taste. Different people have differing tastes when it comes to ponds. Ponds are normally rated by their degree of formality. For example. My pond is about 80% formal, and 20 informal. I'd say Weatherman's pond is about 25% formal, and 75% informal.

Start spending some time on pond forums, and you'll learn things like this, and more. Believe me, when I tell you. If you're going to be building a pond for customers that are that particular. You'd better learn a whole lot more, than you currently know about ponds. There really is a lot to this pond building business. Building a pond for yourself, is a lot different than building one for a customer. If you don't design it just right, and they wind up having pea-soup algae blooms, or water quality issues all the time. Their not going to be happy about it. You're gonna be a lot more forgiving on yourself, than a customer would be.

There are several important considerations that go into building a pond, that will prevent this from being a chronic problem. If the customer wants to put fish in their pond. You need to know how to design the pond, so that it will be able to handle the fish load (WHEN ALL THE FISH IN THE POND ARE GROWN). If they wind up putting koi in their pond for example. Depending on the quality of koi they buy. They could have 10's of thousands of dollars worth of fish in there. Imagine how upset they're gonna be if you design a pond for them that "looks natural", but doesn't have the proper design components to allow proper water quality, and consequently all the fish die. That happens all of the time. When you're building this pond. You need to be able to instill confidence in your customers. That's what they're going to want. Here they are throwing a lot of their money at you to build something for them, that they probably don't know a whole heck of a lot about. Somewhere along the construction process. They will normally start asking you some serious questions. If they asked you what kind of design tactics you are using to help keep the maintenance needs of their prized new pond low. What are you going to tell them? When they ask you. What makes a pond stay pea-soup green all the time? What causes algae blooms? Are you going to know what to say? How about when they ask you. How many fish can I throw in there? What will I need to do on a regular basis to keep my water quality high? How often will I have to clean my pond? What will I need to do to my pond for winter time? Am I supposed to feed the fish in the wintertime too? Get the point? If a problem should happen to arise after the pond is up, and running, and they wind up calling you for help on a resolution. Are you going to know what to tell them? Imagine them calling you at 7PM on a Sunday night in a panic. ALL MY FISH ARE ON THE SURFACE, WITH THEIR MOUTHS OUT OF THE WATER! WHY ARE THEY ACTING SO STRANGE? ARE THEY GONNA BE ALRIGHT?

There is so much more that goes into designing a viable, healthy pond, that won't be an absolute pain in the butt to keep clean, than how informal, or how "natural it looks". Just because the water is clear, doesn't mean it's clean, and healthy. Just because the water isn't clear, doesn't mean it's not clean, and healthy. A swimming pool for example doesn't have to support creatures that are going to eat, breath, and relieve themselves in it. A fish pond does.
That's why a fish pond has to be more complicated than a swimming pool.

I hope this long post helped you to realize that you have a lot of homework to do. I'd worry much more about the REAL quality of it, and start educating yourself on how to do it.

My pond is 5,0103 gallons, is just over 6, and a half feet deep at the bottom drains. You can always easily see the bottom, because of the super clear water, and nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia levels are virtually non existant.

My name is Victor Cundiff, and if I can help you in any way. Let me know.

Well Said Victor. how many ponds do you build a year. This year we did 5 biggest being a little over 7k gallons. The pond in the pics above is my pond that I built this summer, and I thought it was more than 25% Formal Every stone is level and set in place with cement. The pond it self is 12 Long 9 Wide 5.5 feet deep.
I have Koi in the pond and it's so clear you can see the bottom drain. Both of you guys if you need pond supplys I wholesale just about everything you may need for the pond including the fish.

Newly installed waterscapes usually do not look all that natural. But like all landscape installs, in 3-5 years, when plants begin to reach maturity and rock and stone show some weathering, a more natural look occurs. It is a form of art. Don't forget to make sure it is functional. Because the most natural looking waterscape isn't worth a darn if it doesn't function properly.

Where, exactly, is the location of the big install of yours? I am familiar with the Northern Kentucky area.